Bill Bratton Resigns as NYPD Police Commissioner

CITY HALL, NY — NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton made the surprise announcement Tuesday he will resign, and be replaced by Chief of Department James O'Neill.

Bratton will officially leave the position in mid-September. He referred explicitly to taking a new job in the private sector, but would not say what the position will be. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bratton has accepted a position running the risk division at consulting firm Teneo.

Mayor Bill de Blasio struck an optimistic tone at the start of Tuesday's press conference, choosing to emphasize the accomplishments of the department as opposed to the departure of Bratton.

"This is a very important day for New York City, very important, very meaningful, a day where we once again recognize the extraordinary achievements of our police force," de Blasio said. "We celebrate continuity, we celebrate taking a step into New York’s future."

Bratton informed de Blasio he would be stepping down on July 8, right after they held a press conference to announce the first-half crime statistics for the city. Bratton joked once he picked the mayor up off the floor, the pair had a two-hour conversation about the decision and why he felt he needed to accept the private sector position. De Blasio said the two would remain close, and joked Bratton would be picking up the tab when they went out for dinner.

The move comes just one day after protesters began camping outside City Hall asking for the resignation of Bratton and defunding of the NYPD. When asked, De Blasio said the current protests in City Hall Park "110 percent had nothing to do with this."

"We’ve developed an intense bond over these 31 months and I’m happy for his future," de Blasio said. "I’ll miss seeing you everyday, and I want to thank you for all the tremendous accomplishments."

Crime numbers have declined steadily under Bratton. The total number of serious crimes went from 106,722 in 2014 to 105,453 in 2015. According to police, the city is on pace for the lowest number of felony crimes in its history in 2016.

James O'Neill was called the "perfect" person to replace Bratton by de Blasio. O'Neill began his career as a transit cop in 1983 and moved up the ranks to eventually become Chief of Department in 2014. O'Neill was repeatedly called the chief architect of community policing in the NYPD. Ben Tucker will remain First Deputy Commissioner.

Tucker relayed his conversation yesterday with O'Neill, when told about Bratton's resignation.

"He said, 'Ben, it’s Jimmy.' I know it's you, your name is on the phone," Tucker joked. "'I just want to know, you are hanging around right?' Of course I’m hanging around. … I wouldn’t leave, although we accomplished a lot, we have a lot more to do."

Carlos Gomez, who served as Housing Chief, will be promoted to take over O'Neill's role as Chief of Department.

Bratton, 68, has been commissioner since de Blasio took office in January 2014. It was actually the second time Bratton has served as NYPD commissioner after a stint from 1994 to 1996 under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Bratton had recently stated he planned to make this term his last, but appeared as though he would stay on through 2017.

He also served as police commissioner in his native Boston for six months from 1993 to 1994 and Chief of Police in Los Angeles from 2002 to 2009.

During his first stint with the NYPD, Bratton was instrumental in implementing Giuliani's "broken windows" policing strategy, which targeted low-level offenders with the idea that those same people would eventually commit more serious crime. Bratton, along with Jack Maple, were responsible for developing CompStat during his first tenure as well. CompStat is a system of tracking crimes, which are then easily accessible to police officers. CompStat 2.0, unveiled earlier this year, is available on the smartphone each police officer carries to refer to immediately.

"I wish I had words for what this man has achieved," de Blasio said. "I think you could spend years and years researching and analyzing and you wouldn’t get it all. … He’s taught me a lot, he’s been an extraordinary partner."

Photo Credit: Diana Robinson via Flickr/Creative Commons